How to Buy OTC Medicine in Japan: The Risk-Class System

Buying OTC medicine in Japan doesn't require a prescription, but every product on the shelf sits in one of four risk classes that decide how the sale happens. Guidance-Requiring (要指導医薬品) and Class 1 (第1類医薬品) products need a licensed pharmacist to sell them to you in person - Guidance-Requiring can't be sold online, and Class 1 comes with mandatory written information. Class 2 (第2類医薬品, covering many cold and pain remedies) and Class 3 (第3類医薬品) don't require a pharmacist. One more thing before you shop: a few things sold OTC back home, melatonin and most pseudoephedrine cold pills among them, aren't OTC in Japan at all.

The classification matches oversight to risk, and it applies to every over-the-counter medicine sold here - not just the ones you'd expect to be tightly controlled.

Drugstores (ドラッグストア) are the default answer - retail shops selling OTC medicine, cosmetics, and daily goods, stocking all four classes. Guidance-Requiring and Class 1 sales legally need a pharmacist in the building, so confirm one's on shift if you're shopping very early or late; Class 2 and Class 3 don't have that constraint. Dispensing pharmacies (調剤薬局, marked 調剤 or 薬局, often a green cross) exist mainly to fill prescriptions but employ pharmacists too, so don't rule one out if a drugstore comes up empty. The pharmacy finder filters for verified English-language support and opening hours.

Melatonin is not sold over the counter in Japan - it doesn't have OTC status here the way it does on a US drugstore shelf, though there's no prohibition on having it. A personal supply falls under the standard import allowance: OTC drugs, quasi-drugs, and vitamins up to a 2-month supply without a certificate. Verify specifics with MHLW before packing a large bottle.

Cold medicine is different. Pseudoephedrine, the decongestant in Sudafed and in the "-D" versions of several allergy pills, is restricted rather than banned - embassy sources cite a threshold of 10 percent or less. Products reported as flagged by embassy and customs guidance include Sudafed, Actifed, Vicks inhalers, Tylenol Cold, NyQuil, Advil Cold and Sinus, Lomotil, and the -D versions of Allegra, Claritin, and Zyrtec. Plain Allegra, Claritin, and Zyrtec, without the -D, are generally fine.

Once you're here, plain ibuprofen and acetaminophen are sold OTC in ordinary drugstores, and a pharmacist can usually point you to a local equivalent.

If a pharmacist sends you to a doctor, the 処方箋 you leave with is only valid a few days - see prescription validity in Japan. The health guide covers the broader system; the moving to Japan guide covers insurance and the rest of settling in.